Recent studies grounded in the Italian experience of the Covenant of Mayors highlight how
climate planning processes rarely seize the opportunity to establish stable and effective
climate governance practices. This gap reflects limitations in human and financial
resources, but also deeper weaknesses in the capacity of local authorities to permanently
integrate climate planning into ordinary planning and operationalise the available tools.
Although existing literature has extensively investigated the drivers and barriers of local
climate action, limited attention has been devoted to understanding how place-specific
climate risk dimensions, including spatial configurations and local perceptions, interact with
municipalities’ propensity and capacity to develop comprehensive pathways incorporating
adaptation and climate justice. As a result, the socio-technical mechanisms and
institutional learning processes through which climate planning becomes structurally
embedded into ordinary territorial governance remain comparatively underexplored.
Therefore, the project proposes an interdisciplinary investigation of urban climate
governance, aimed at disentangling how institutional factors and climate-related risk
geographies influence the development, implementation and effectiveness of local climate
planning policies. To address this issue, the research will focus on two major climate
related risks — Urban Heat Island and coastal-related threats — interpreted as strategic
entry points for analysing four interconnected dimensions, each coordinated by a
dedicated research unit: climate governance pathways, urban climate justice configurations, climate risk and vulnerability mapping, and green infrastructures.
At a first stage, these themes will be explored in depth through five case studies selected
as data-rich territorial laboratories (Bari, Brescia, Padua, Turin, and Rosignano Marittimo)
characterized by consolidated experiences in climate planning and the availability of multi
source territorial datasets, to develop an integrated analytical framework combining
satellite observations and GIS-based approaches, climatic ground data, socio-economic
variables, urban planning information, and involvement of stakeholders. These laboratories
will support both the co-creation, together with local authorities and stakeholders, of place
specific operational climate governance tools, and the identification of broader operational
insights transferable across different municipalities. The resulting interpretative and
operational framework will be validated through a second set of municipalities representing
differentiated levels of Climate Action Propensity, calculated by the project. In this way, the
project aims to provide both a comprehensive and critical knowledge framework to analyze
municipal climate governance in Italy and operational guidance for the effective
implementation of climate policies tailored to local needs, vulnerabilities, and risks.
climate planning processes rarely seize the opportunity to establish stable and effective
climate governance practices. This gap reflects limitations in human and financial
resources, but also deeper weaknesses in the capacity of local authorities to permanently
integrate climate planning into ordinary planning and operationalise the available tools.
Although existing literature has extensively investigated the drivers and barriers of local
climate action, limited attention has been devoted to understanding how place-specific
climate risk dimensions, including spatial configurations and local perceptions, interact with
municipalities’ propensity and capacity to develop comprehensive pathways incorporating
adaptation and climate justice. As a result, the socio-technical mechanisms and
institutional learning processes through which climate planning becomes structurally
embedded into ordinary territorial governance remain comparatively underexplored.
Therefore, the project proposes an interdisciplinary investigation of urban climate
governance, aimed at disentangling how institutional factors and climate-related risk
geographies influence the development, implementation and effectiveness of local climate
planning policies. To address this issue, the research will focus on two major climate
related risks — Urban Heat Island and coastal-related threats — interpreted as strategic
entry points for analysing four interconnected dimensions, each coordinated by a
dedicated research unit: climate governance pathways, urban climate justice configurations, climate risk and vulnerability mapping, and green infrastructures.
At a first stage, these themes will be explored in depth through five case studies selected
as data-rich territorial laboratories (Bari, Brescia, Padua, Turin, and Rosignano Marittimo)
characterized by consolidated experiences in climate planning and the availability of multi
source territorial datasets, to develop an integrated analytical framework combining
satellite observations and GIS-based approaches, climatic ground data, socio-economic
variables, urban planning information, and involvement of stakeholders. These laboratories
will support both the co-creation, together with local authorities and stakeholders, of place
specific operational climate governance tools, and the identification of broader operational
insights transferable across different municipalities. The resulting interpretative and
operational framework will be validated through a second set of municipalities representing
differentiated levels of Climate Action Propensity, calculated by the project. In this way, the
project aims to provide both a comprehensive and critical knowledge framework to analyze
municipal climate governance in Italy and operational guidance for the effective
implementation of climate policies tailored to local needs, vulnerabilities, and risks.